Container holder

ABSTRACT

A container holder for supporting containers, such as bottles, in which the holder comprises a tubular body of mesh construction with a restricted opening at the bottom thereof and means at the top thereof to receive a hook means.

United States Patent 1191 Wright, Jr. 1 Oct. 21, 1975 1 CONTAINER HOLDER2,457,918 1/1949 Pierce 248/309 Inventor: Thomas H. g J 1500 Sw-3,366,360 1/1968 Burke 248/318 5111 Court, Bo R t Fl 33432 FOREIGNPATENTS OR APPLICATIONS- 253,160 7/1964 Australia 248/318 [22] 19732,183 6 1914 United Kingdom 248/318 [21] Appl. No.: 421,588

Primary Examiner-William H; Schultz [52] U S Cl 248/318 Attorney, Agent,or FirmJack N. McCarthy [51] Int. Cl. A47K 1/08 [58] Field Of Search248/102, 105, 106, 311, [57] ABSTRACT 248/318 A container holder forsupporting containers, such as bottles, in which the holder comprises atubular body [56] References Cit d of mesh construction with arestricted opening at the UNITED STATES PATENTS bottom thereof and meansat the top thereof to re- 832,754 10 1906 Smith 248/311 cewe a hookmeans 1,029,414 6/1912 Bennett 248/311 4 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures whom;1 00 0000000008? 01010192 1 00 0 Q-|Hl 0004i 0 0 00 1 011 1i 1 ....H|M I00000 0111- US. Patent Oct. 21, 1975 3,913,879

CONTAINER HOLDER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to acontainer holder for providing quick suspension of a container whilepermitting easy access to contents of the container for gravity feedtherefrom.

Prior art container holders are shown in US. Pat. No. 3,366,360 toBurke; US. Pat. No. 3,395,882 to Marshall; U.S. Pat. No. 3,635,367 toMorita et al; and US. Pat. No. 3,653,610 to Owen. Further, these patentsalso refer to other patents which further describe the prior art.However, none of these prior art patents are believed to provide theversatility which the container holder set forth in this applicationdoes.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A primary object of the present invention is toprovide an improved container holder for providing means for suspendinga container or bottle while permitting easy access to an exit openingtherein which will then permit gravity feed to obtain immediate use ofthe contents therein.

In accordance with the present invention, a container holder isconstructed in which the contents of the container can be viewedtherethrough.

In accordance with further aspects of the present invention, a containerholder is provided which will accommodate many sizes of containers andcontainers which may also have odd shapes.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a containerholder is formed of a tubular body of mesh construction having arestricted opening at the bottom thereof to prevent the passage of acontainer therethrough while the mesh construction remaining at the topthereof provides the means for mounting the container holder andtherefore the container.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a perspective view of acontainer holder in its operative position holding a bottle;

FIG. 2 is an exploded cross-sectional view taken through the bottom ofthe container holder showing the collar means forming the restrictedopening;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the collar means assembled.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the figures, thecontainer holder 2 comprises a tubular body 4 of mesh construction withone end being held to a smaller restricted opening by a collar means 6.The tubular body 4 of mesh construction can receive items having a rangeof diameters and heights, since it stretches. Further, the tubular bodycan be made of various sizes to accommodate many ranges. The collarmeans 6 can be constructed in many ways as long as it is fixed to thetubular body and has left a restricted opening of such size so as topermit the neck 18 of a bottle 20 or other device to pass therethrough.This permits the neck of the bottle to be easily accessible andavailable for emergency entry, such as in the use of intravenousinfusion of blood, plasma, saline, glucose, or other liquids. Atwo-piece collar means is shown in FIG. 2 wherein in assembly (a) thetubular member is fed through an inner ring 8; (b) the tubular member isbent back around the exterior of the ring;

and (c) an outer ring 10 is then fixed, such as by snapping, over themesh construction and inner ring 8. In the construction shown, the outerring 10 has formed around the inner'surface thereof an inwardlyextending annular flange 14 which is adapted to fit into an annulargroove 12 formed around the outer surface of the inner ring 8. The innerand outer rings, 8 and 10, respectively, are formed of a resilientmaterial, such as a plastic, so that the annular flange 14 of the outerring 10 can pass over the mesh construction and end of the inner ring 8between its bottom and the annular groove 12. Other collars can be usedmade out of all types of materials. A rope could be threaded through thelower mesh portion of the tube of the body and knotted at some desiredlength to provide the required restricted opening.

After a container, such as a bottle 20, has been inserted into thetubular body of mesh construction with the neck of the opening extendingthrough the collar means 6, the top of the mesh can be merely placedover a hook to support the entire device. The mesh construction of thetubular body can be made of many materials, including plastics, metalwire or hemp, such as in the construction of fishnets.

If desired, a second collar means, similar to collar means 6, can beplaced on the top of the tubular body of mesh construction, after acontainer or bottle has been inserted, if this type of arrangement isdesired. This second collar means can have a hook extending therefromfor supporting said holder 2 and container.

It is noted that the use of netting material does not obscure anywritten material appearing on the surface of a container or bottle,either placed directly on the container or on an individual labelaffixed to the container.

I claim:

1. A container holder for holding a container upside down to permitcontents therein to pass through an opening in the top of the container,said holder comprising a tubular body of mesh construction for receivingand supporting a container, means forming a restricted opening at thebottom of the tubular body of mesh construction to receive the neck of acontainer and support a container, the upper part of the meshconstruction forming means for mounting the container holder and acontainer, said means forming a restricted opening comprising ring meansfixed to the bottom of said mesh construction, said ring meanscomprising a first ring having an inner and outer surface and a secondring having an inner and outer surface, said tubular body of meshconstruction extending through the inner surface of said first ring andback over the outer surface of said first ring, said second ring havingits inner surface placed over the portion of the surface of the tubularbody of mesh construction over the outer surface of the first ring, saidfirst and second rings being fixed in place.

2. A container holder as set forth in claim 1 wherein said outer surfaceof said first ring and the inner surface of said second ring arecontoured to have a snap action which will fix them in place and holdthe tubular body of mesh construction between them.

3. A container holder as set forth in claim 2 wherein said first ringhas a circular inner surface having a diameter which is smaller than thediameter of the tubular body of mesh construction as it is positioned ona container.

wherein in step (2) one end of said tubular body of mesh construction isinserted into a first ring member while the tubular body of meshconstruction is then pulled around said first ring member with a secondring member being formed to engage said first ring member over saidtubular body of mesh construction and fixedly retain the tubular body ofmesh construction between said ring members.

1. A container holder for holding a container upside down to permitcontents therein to pass through an opening in the top of the container,said holder comprising a tubular body of mesh construction for receivingand supporting a container, means forming a restricted opening at thebottom of the tubular body of mesh construction to receive the neck of acontainer and support a container, the upper part of the meshconstruction forming means for mounting the container holder and acontainer, said means forming a restricted opening comprising ring meansfixed to the bottom of said mesh construction, said ring meanscomprising a first ring having an inner and outer surface and a secondring having an inner and outer surface, said tubular body of meshconstruction extending through the inner surface of said first ring andback over the outer surface of said first ring, said second ring havingits inner surface placed over the portion of the surface of the tubularbody of mesh construction over the outer surface of the first ring, saidfirst and second rings being fixed in place.
 2. A container holder asset forth in claim 1 wherein said outer surface of said first ring andthe inner surface of said second ring are contoured to have a snapaction which will fix them in place and hold the tubular body of meshconstruction between them.
 3. A container holder as set forth in claim 2wherein said first ring has a circular inner surface having a diameterwhich is smaller than the diameter of the tubular body of meshconstruction as it is positioned on a container.
 4. A method of holdinga container upside down to permit contents therein to pass through anopening in a neck in the top of a container, comprising (1) forming atubular body of mesh construction for receiving and supporting acontainer, (2) restricting the opening at one end of the tubular body ofmesh construction to receive the neck of a container and support thecontainer, (3) extending said tubular body of mesh construction beyondthe bottom of a container to provide for mounting the container holderand container, wherein in step (2) one end of said tubular body of meshconstruction is inserted into a first ring member while the tubular bodyof mesh construction is then pulled around said first ring member with asecond ring member being formed to engage said first ring membEr oversaid tubular body of mesh construction and fixedly retain the tubularbody of mesh construction between said ring members.